Football fans didn’t have to wait long on Tuesday for the NFL’s official response to the stunning conclusion of last night’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.

“The ruling on the field stands: bulls***”.

In the official statement on NFL.com, the decision has been made NOT to overturn Golden Tate’s last second game winning touchdown. I would have been shocked if they did reverse it to be honest. However I think it was the right thing to do. Everybody aside from Golden Tate, Pete Carrol and Seahawk fan still mad about Super Bowl XL considers the play to be an interception.

Key excerpts from the NFL’s response:

“While the ball is in the air, Tate can be seen shoving Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to the ground. This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game. It was not called and is not reviewable in instant replay.”

Okay, so the NFL acknowledges that the “push-off” happened and should have been called a penalty. So far so good…

“When the players hit the ground in the end zone, the officials determined that both Tate and Jennings had possession of the ball. Under the rule for simultaneous catch, the ball belongs to Tate, the offensive player. The result of the play was a touchdown.”

It can be hard to make a snap judgement like this when the play is happening at game speed. I think most of us can agree that the first time we saw the play (not the replay) it appeared as though both players had possession of the football. The refs are closer to the action, but I can understand how one person could rule it a TD and one could rule it an INT. The referees should have conferred before making the call. The ruling on the field is prime unless there is irrefutable evidence to the contrary.

“Replay Official Howard Slavin stopped the game for an instant replay review. The aspects of the play that were reviewable included if the ball hit the ground and who had possession of the ball. In the end zone, a ruling of a simultaneous catch is reviewable. That is not the case in the field of play, only in the end zone.”

Okay, so the fact that they are allowed to review the simultaneous catch is where this entire debacle gets away from them. Upon review, it’s clear as day that M.D. Jennings had possession of the football, then Tate tried to wrestle it away from him while on the ground. They couldn’t review the push-off, but during this they HAD to see it. If there is a close call to be made in this situation, some might have a problem with this but I’d give the benefit of the doubt to the team that suffered from the initial missed call.

“Referee Wayne Elliott determined that no indisputable visual evidence existed to overturn the call on the field, and as a result, the on-field ruling of touchdown stood. The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review.”

Garbage. Pure, stanky garbage.

Roger Goodell does not have the power to overturn a decision like this, so people harping on the guy for blowing this should consider that.

However this whole thing is his fault in the first place due to the regular referee lockout. For that, he shoulders all the blame and the bizarre start to the NFL season is on his head. Hopefully as a result of this, Goodell with bow to public pressure and cave to the regular officials.

With this ruling, this is a dead issue and I will no longer write about it. It will be interesting to see the fallout from this as Packer fans have already taken to protesting outside Lambeau field this morning.

People are outraged. Boycotts are being (hilariously) threatened. And the NFL is the most talked about sport for all the wrong reasons.

We need you Jerome Boger. Now more than ever.

You can follow j.Bow on twitter (@jBowmancouver). He prefers his controversy to be kept to pro-wrestling and politics. Leave sports alone.

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the “X” in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.